February 1936

Peggy scrunched her nose, causing the pins in her mouth to dip and poke her tongue. She grunted and ignored the prick of pain as she took one of the pins and stuck it into the fabric. The pale pink dress from the attic lay on the table in front of her, cut up and ready to be put back together into something reasonable. She wasn't getting married until May, but it was best to get the important things done sooner rather than later.

"It's good fabric," Mother said from across the table. "I'm surprised, considering how old it is."

"It's pretty too," Peggy said quietly.

"Oh, we'll add some embroidery and maybe we can find some lace. It'll be beautiful. You'll be beautiful."

Peggy offered Mother a small smile. "Thanks."

"Freddy will think so, anyway. He loves you. And you know what's more important than a dress? More important than a wedding? A marriage. Being married to the man you love is the greatest thing in the world. When I married your father, I just wore my best Sunday dress. I don't even think I had shoes! The magazines would have called it 'Bohemian'; I just called it being poor! But it was all worth it."

Now Peggy's smile was genuine. "I'm glad you still love each other. I was… I thought…"

Mother reached across the table and held out her hand. Peggy took it. "Oh, honey. If you're going to get married, you're going to have to know that it's not always a bed of roses. Sometimes you and Freddy will fight. About money. About children. About all sorts of things. You just have to remember you're on the same team and you'll find a way to work it out. Your father and I always have."

That eased some of the guilt Peggy was still carrying around.

They chatted amiably with each other until they heard the front door open and a herd of children march in. Dottie ran into the kitchen, a huge smile on her face.

"Guess what! I drove the truck home!"

Peggy and Mother shared a horrified look. "You… I'm sorry, you what?" Mother said.

"I drove home!" Dottie repeatedly, still beaming.

"ANDREW JAMES CARTER!"

"Oh, he's not here. That's why I drove home," Dottie said. "He gave me the keys before school and said he would be back some time tonight. It's all right, Mother. I've driven the tractor plenty of times!"

"That's not the point. It's your brother's job, especially in the snow. And are you trying to tell me that Andrew didn't go to school?" Mother asked.

Dottie shrugged. "I don't think so. He's been skipping school all month."

Mother jumped up and started towards the living room but stopped and went back to her seat. "Uff da! That boy is in for a world of trouble! What on earth is he doing?"

"Dunno."

Mother grunted. "Do any of you have homework? No? Then go upstairs and clean your rooms." The children obediently scattered.

"That's not like Andy at all," Peggy said as she set down her sewing. "He loves school."

"If he's dropped out to make money, then so help me…" Mother said. She growled and hit the table, once again rising to her feet. "I'm going to go talk to your father."

It turned out Dad didn't have any answers. He was just as perturbed as Mother. Day quickly faded into night with no sign of Andrew.

"Where on earth could he be?" Mother asked after the children had gone to bed. She had worn a track into the floor from her near constant pacing. Dad had made several phone calls- the telephone being the one luxury the Carter's enjoyed- with no luck finding answers.

"Should we go into town to look for him?" Peggy asked.

Dad was already at the door, grabbing his coat. "You stay here. I'll go."

"But it's starting to snow really hard out there," Mother protested. "It'll be a white-out soon enough. I'm not losing you, too."

"We haven't lost Andrew. He's just not home yet," Dad countered.

"Amelia Smith was late coming home and she died in a dust storm," Mother said. "Remember that? She was all curled up in a ditch and they didn't find her for three days!"

"I remember," Dad said.

"Blizzards are just as dangerous! More so!"

"I'll be back," Dad said, going outside and closing the door behind him before Mother had a chance to argue more.

"Oh that man!" Mother cried.

"He'll be all right, Mother," Peggy said, although she found herself looking at the window at the falling snow with worry. "I just wish I knew what possessed Andy to run off. Where could he possibly go anyway? And why?"

They didn't receive any answers that night. Dad didn't come home either. The blizzard outside raged on for nearly three days, leaving the Carters snowbound inside. Peggy, Mother and Alice managed the farm chores the best they could, but it wasn't easy with their two men away.

On the fourth day, the weather lifted.

"I'm going to take a horse into town," Peggy declared at breakfast. "Someone must know something."

"Margaret. Peggy," Mother said, taking her hand. "Please don't go. If something happened to you, I'd just die!"

"I'll be care-"

Peggy was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. Andrew appeared, with Dad close behind, holding the scruff of his coat. Andrew looked more than sheepish.

"Look who I found," Dad announced.

"Andy!" seven voices cried. A whole crowd of Carter women came rushing over, hugging the two men.

Mother kissed Andrew's cheek and then knocked him upside the head. "Andrew James Carter, explain yourself!"

"Coffee first, my love," Dad said, breaking through the circle of girls and heading for the kitchen. "Come on, you." Dad hauled Andrew along with him. He sat his son down and poured him a cup of coffee. "Do we have any breakfast left?"

"There's porridge on the stove," Mother said.

"Good." Dad scooped the rest of the porridge into a bowl and put it in front of Andrew. Andrew wolfed it down as if he hadn't eaten in days. Maybe he hadn't.

When he was done, the Carters gathered around him, Mother with her hands firmly on her hips, looking ready to kill.

"Go on," Dad said.

"Wellllll," Andy drawled, not looking very eager to share. He reached into his pocket and set down a wad of money.

Mother picked it up and leafed through it. "Andrew! There has got to be a hundred and fifty dollars here!"

"Actually, it's a hundred and thirty-five," Andrew said.

"But how?" Mother demanded. "Is this why you were gone for a week and nearly gave me a heart attack?!"

"Well, see, I… Well, I thought Peggy ought to have a nice dress, so I've been doing any sort of odd job around town that I could. But then I read in a magazine that dresses can cost up to fifty or sixty bucks. And all that nice fabric she was talking about isn't cheap either!"

"Oh Andy," Peggy sighed. "I appreciate it, but it would take forever to save up all that money."

"I know! So then I decided to sell my trumpet. I mean, I love it and I bet if I had practised more, I'd be really good at it. But it's the only thing I really own that's mine, other than Buttercup and she's just too useful to the family. And my trumpet may be swell, but it's not more important than you, Peggy. So I went to the general store, but Mr. Bauer said he had no use for a trumpet and couldn't pay me even if he did! But he told me I might have better luck in Fargo."

"So you went to Fargo?" Mother asked.

"I was planning to," Carter replied. "I took all that money I had gotten from those odd jobs and bought a ticket. But I guess I got on the wrong train or maybe I just fell asleep and missed the station. Either way, I didn't notice and neither did the conductor and the next thing I knew, I was in Minneapolis."

"Minneapolis!" Mother cried.

Andrew nodded vigorously. "I figured it was pretty lucky since Minneapolis is bigger than Fargo anyway. So I went to the first pawnshop I could find and the guy there said he'd give me twenty dollars for it."

"So where did the other one hundred dollars come from?" Peggy asked.

"That's the thing. I would have been happy for twenty dollars, but there was a fellow in the shop who stopped me. He took my trumpet and looked it over and said I could get close to two hundred for it if I found the right buyer.

"I said two hundred bucks is a lot of money, but he pointed out that my trumpet's got a De Luxe finish, with gold plating and engravings inside and outside the bell. He said it was a top-quality instrument and that if it were new, it would cost at least two hundred and fifty dollars!

"Two hundred and fifty dollars for a trumpet?" Dottie exclaimed. "Boy, are we in the wrong business. There's no way Grandpa paid that much for it!"

"Oh, you'd be surprised what that man spent money on," Mother said. "But, you're right. He probably didn't."

"Well, anyway," Andrew continued, "I asked if he wanted to buy it, but he said he didn't have that kind of scratch, but he gave me the address to a shop that might be willing to give me a good price on it. I had to take a taxi to get there and it was closed when I did.

"So I found a YMCA and stayed the night. And went back the next day and, sure enough, the guy offered me a hundred and fifty bucks for it. Now, that's not two hundred bucks, but I decided to take what I could get while I could get it! I wanted to stay to look around the city- boy, is it big!- but I figured you guys would be worried about me, so I took the next train home. But I got caught up in Fargo because of the storm."

"Where did you stay?" Peggy asked.

"I wanted to stay with Uncle Sam, but he and Aunt Bessie weren't home and I couldn't get in. Their neighbour said they were in Minneapolis on business. Ain't that a kick? Well, anyway, I spent a little bit of the money to stay in a hotel. But I didn't eat too much, I promise. I tried to save as much as I could. But then I met a fella outside the hotel who had been out of work for a while, and I thought, maybe I could spare a few dollars to help him out. And then he asked for a bit more to help his buddy, and I just couldn't turn him down-"

"Oh, Andrew. That man was probably-" Mother started but Dad interrupted.

"He was probably very grateful, son."

"He sure looked it. Anyway, this morning, the snow stopped and I took the very first train out of town. I was barely off the platform when I saw Dad. Boy, was he mad! I've never seen him that mad!"

"And I still am," Dad said. "It'll be reflected in your chores."

Andrew winced, but then turned his attention to Peggy. "Anyway, Peg, this money is for you. You really ought to have a nice dress and shoes for your wedding. And flowers, too. And a nice reception lunch."

"We really ought to save it for something more important," Peggy and Mother said at the same time.

"You're important," Andrew insisted.

"Andrew earned the money. If he wants you to have it, Peggy, you should have it," Dad said. He took the money from Mother and handed it to Peggy, who looked at it with wide eyes.

"But I… I don't know… Oh Andrew!" Peggy threw her arms around her brother and held him tight. "You're the best brother I ever had."

"I'm the only brother you ever had."

"That too."